The government has set itself a target of increasing the number of apprenticeship schemes from 250,000 to 400,000 by 2011, helped by raising the school-leaving age to 18. However, Nuffield Review author Geoff Hayward warned that apprenticeships compete with other education and training pathways available to young people.

He said: “The risk of expanding apprenticeships further to meet government targets is that the public subsidises training in sectors that do not require intermediate level skills and which offer a poor learning experience for the apprentice.”

The number of young people starting apprenticeships peaked four years ago and has now started to decline, according to Hayward.